Tag Archives: saving

When I grew up shopping consisted of a ONCE a year experience for the solo purpose of obtaining back to school clothes. During this process, I had to painfully choose from several “I just can’t live without” outfits and quickly discovered that life continued with or without the cool color stripe on the side of the designer jeans. I left the store with enough clothes to cover the important parts but not enough to prevent the dread of wearing the same outfit twice in the same week.

Fast forward to 2011 and let me introduce you to my daughter, who is able to shop like a politician is able to lie….easily! Whenever the shopping mood strikes (and usually after she’s saved up her allowance) we are off to the local mall. She leaves the stores looking something like this:

Sephora, an American Eagle bag so full the bottom is about to break.....

and on the back….

....a little eye candy and Abercrombie

When I grew up entertainment consisted of….well, this:

A game of cards and poker chips!

And hours and hours of outdoor play. We were quite skilled in the art of mud-pie making and creating jewerly masterpieces with the butts of lightening bugs. Lightening bug jewelery was especially a hit with the boys who got to gut the bugs without us girls stopping them. It was all about the bling – even back then because bling is timeless. We never uttered the words “I’m BOORRED!” nor expected our parents or things to entertain us. We were the creative captains of our own entertainment and yes, a few lightening bugs died in the process.

My oldest son would never think of gutting a lightning bug and smearing the bling around the wrist of a female friend. Instead he guts aliens sans the gut smearing. He has his own creative captain area good for hours of brain numbing entertainment. Because we love him and desire to salvage some brain cells, Mr. Pavlov and I have conveniently placed a pre-set timer with a LOUD alarm to signal an end to the cerebral damage. It’s the least we could do.

He just informed us that he has saved enough money for a 36″ flat screen TV to complete the entertainment paradise.

And speaking of saving money….if you have followed my Facebook and twitter updates then you are already aware that my “baby” saved for several years to dump it on this beauty:

ipad2 with beautiful (ahem, me) wallpaper

I know he finds great joy in transforming me into a radioactive beast with weird eyes however, the next time he has a buldging bank account and the spending itch, I think I’ll work my mad mothering skills to convince him that a trip to the Spa would produce better results! After seeing me in an avocado mask with cucumber slices for my eyes, I’m sure he’ll agree.

Yes, my kids have it made. If, in their adulthood, they should blog about the difficulties and deprivation of their childhood then I will shove this post under their noses to effectively correct any misconceptions.

Did I mention that computers and blogs were non-existent when I was growing up?

Everyone was in bed. The house was quiet. I was semi-alone and I loved it. But rather than exercise my brain or do something productive like laundry, I plopped myself down on the couch. The couch is in front of the TV. The remote lives on the couch and before I knew it, the remote was in my hand and I was existing in the time sucking world of TV where seconds magically morph into hours. This is a dangerous place late at night especially with the DVR full of unwatched shows.

I am not a big TV viewer like my male counterpart but I do like my brain candy. I was all prepared to have my eyes glaze over, my mouth relax in the open position and veg on some brain candy when I stumbled upon something.

TLC….TLC Extreme Couponing episode. I had never watched this show before but I was suddenly curious. Coupons seem like a waste of precious time and chasing deals that are over priced, filled with restrictions and basically non-existent. And then there is always the cashier lady to deal with. Usually old and irritable, she inspects each coupon thoroughly looking for any defect so she can rasp “this is NO good!” But by watching these individuals get incredible savings I became inspired.

Inspired by the deals not the psychosis that some of the individuals displayed! Have you watched that episode? Toilet paper was described by one of the coupon clippers as “My pride and joy!” [someone requires intervention time]

Let’s face it, some of those people need HELP…the institutional kind with pharmaceutical therapy, group time and professionals in long white coats writing frantically on clipboards.

So while I have no intention of going off the psychological deep end, I will devote some time to clipping coupons. I have already started and it is surprisingly challenging. My head is spinning and I have a gazillion flyers and coupons scattered all over the place. I even key-napped my husband’s car keys to load him up with the recent reward cards obtained from the various stores. So when you see the bulge in his pocket, don’t comment. Resist the “Are you happy to see me or is that....” remark please. Look away!

The stuff deals are made of

So send me some love and let me know the inside tips. What has worked for you? How do you survive the world of coupons. Holla to Carrie who has already helped me a lot!!